Older EOS Lens compatibility

Hi all, I'm a newbie with my first 450D. I like it so far and want to increase my lens selection with some second hand old lenses. There seem to be a lot of old EOS lenses on ebay which state uncertainty with newer digital bodies. Is it a given that these lenses won't work, or do they work generally but not 100%? ie miss some inportant features like AF or apperture adjust? or do they junt not work at all? thanks!

All EF and EF-S lenses are fully compatible and functional with your 450D.

I have a 25 years old EOS 70-210f4 that I have used with D60,350D and a 40D all without any problems at all

efunc wrote in post #8975755
Hi all, I'm a newbie with my first 450D. I like it so far and want to increase my lens selection with some second hand old lenses. There seem to be a lot of old EOS lenses on ebay which state uncertainty with newer digital bodies. Is it a given that these lenses won't work, or do they work generally but not 100%? ie miss some inportant features like AF or apperture adjust? or do they junt not work at all? thanks!

All Canon made EF lenses are compatible with all EOS cameras new or old.

Older 3rd party lenses from companies like Sigma may not be compatible with the latest EOS cameras.

The only difference that may be important, in some cases, is that older lenses have less anti reflection coating on their rear element. That wasn't an issue with film, but digital sensors are much more reflective.

Whether this causes any difference depends upon what you shoot.

and how about FD lenses

firomero wrote in post #8976817
and how about FD lenses

not without an adapter with optics inside, compromising the IQ of the lens...
But with enough money or time you can pay someone to make an adapter for them (or some others that require specialized mount modification), or you can search here and other forums and find out how lenses other than EF/EF-S lenses can be made to work on the Canon...

firomero wrote in post #8976817
and how about FD lenses

If you are wanting to use old MF lenses on EOS cameras then you should look at Pentax and Nikon. These can be adapted with simple rings that contain no optics.

There is usually little point in trying to use FD lenses.

JeffreyG wrote in post #8977396
If you are wanting to use old MF lenses on EOS cameras then you should look at Pentax and Nikon. These can be adapted with simple rings that contain no optics.

There is usually little point in trying to use FD lenses.

Zuiko also.

efunc wrote in post #8975755
Hi all, I'm a newbie with my first 450D. I like it so far and want to increase my lens selection with some second hand old lenses. There seem to be a lot of old EOS lenses on ebay which state uncertainty with newer digital bodies. Is it a given that these lenses won't work, or do they work generally but not 100%? ie miss some inportant features like AF or apperture adjust? or do they junt not work at all? thanks!

how much are you budgeting for lenses?...also what do you currently have?

there may be better options than an older lens...although you can get deals on ebay in the EOS film section...i picked up a 50mm MK I with film camera for $55...it's all about timing, and luck pretty much

Thanks for all the useful replies. I've currently got the EF-S 17-85mm lens as my main lens. However I bought the 50mm f1.8 and I love it! That promted me to start looking at good, wide and fast prime lenses since the 50 is often too narrow to do indoor photography and doesn't allow me to get in close enough. Also I tend to take lot's of pics in dark rooms (clubs, bars, gigs) so fast lens is good.

I found a Sigma 24mm f/2.8 Superwide II going very cheap (£40) so thought it was definitely worth a try. I quite like it, however it's not fully compatible with the 450D and has to be used fully open at f2.8. To be fair, I don't think that's a great limitation for me becuase I tend to prefer shooting like that, even though I may be sacrificing a little sharpness(?)

I'm now considering something similar, a wide prime around f1.8. I'm not sure what my options are when it comes to older EOS lenses (£200 or less). I've just passed up a Canon EOS fit 28mm f1.8 Aspherical Sigma lens that was £50, but was untested with a digital slr. Can these be re-chipped by Sigma? If not, would they still be workable on the 450D?

thanks again for all the advice.

efunc wrote in post #8979643
Can these be re-chipped by Sigma? If not, would they still be workable on the 450D?

thanks again for all the advice.

Your best bet is to call your local Sigma service center/dealer and ask directly.

A "Photo Expert" from Futureshop told me this weekend that the only lenses I can use on a full-frame camera were L-Series lenses. I have no idea where she came up with that theory but I quickly refuted her lack of knowledge.

This "Photo Expert" also told me that she had a 5D and that you can only use the L lenses on them. I feel really bad for this person because they probably spent way more money than they should have on their lenses. That's probably her reason that she didn't have the 5D anymore.

I complained to the manager of that particular Futureshop based on the fact that I feel like I was being up-sold. Granted this only came out of a sheer lack of knowledge ... I think she should have her "Photo Expert" tag taken away.

Granted this doesn't really answer the OP's question so I will just say +1 to the fact that all EF / EF-S lenses from the day the EOS system came out would be compatible with the 450D

just to clarify, I'm not asking about EF/EF-S lenses because of course there's no question of those not working with the 450D. I'm wondering about older lenses and third party lenses where compatibility is not explicit. What does this mean in practice, and are there workarounds? (I'm on a budget and just starting out).

efunc wrote in post #8979765
just to clarify, I'm not asking about EF/EF-S lenses because of course there's no question of those not working with the 450D. I'm wondering about older lenses and third party lenses where compatibility is not explicit. What does this mean in practice, and are there workarounds? (I'm on a budget and just starting out).

unless you want to manual focus then you're still going to be looking for third party EF-mounts even on 20+ year old lenses...sigmas do have the rechipping issue...

if you're o.k. with manual focus, there's a lot of M42 lenses, but someone else can help you with that...i've yet to delve into those...